Qualifier-Only Half Marathon Draws 2,400 Runners to Inaugural Event

The inaugural USA Half Marathon, which was open only to time qualifiers, traced the streets of San Diego on Saturday. While the race didn’t attract many elite runners, its overall fast field helped some entrants achieve speedy times on a tough course.

Race organizer Ken Nwadike Jr. wanted to start a race that would be the “Boston of half marathons,” with qualifying times as a barrier to entry. He said after the race that runners had been enthusiastic about the idea.

“It almost seems like there’s been an unspoken need for this concept,” he said.

Part of the idea was to get away from themed events such as color runs and mud runs that take away from the competitiveness of the sport, Nwadike said. Entry times ranged from 1:45 for men ages 15 to 29 to 2:30 for women 75 and over. The goal, Nwadike said, is to bring those times down in the future, as the race grows more competitive.

While this year’s race was capped at 5,000 entrants, only about 3,000 registered and 2,400 finished, he said. Nwadike might toughen the qualifying standards next year if more than 5,000 people register. Then, he would set up a system like the one used for the Boston Marathon, where faster runners (relative to their qualifying standards) get priority.

Robyn Roybal, 55, won her division with a time of 1:33:55. Roybal said she thought she’d be competitive in her age group, but wasn’t sure she’d win. She said the qualifying times meant a faster overall field, which pushed her.

“I knew it’d be competitive, and running with fast people always makes you faster,” she said.

Many runners posted on the event’s Facebook page that they ran fast times, and Katja Goldring, 25, who won the women’s overall field, also notched a PR (1:14:14).

But the men’s overall winner, Sean Gildea, 24, said he was hoping for a faster lead pack.

“They hung with me for the first five miles, but after the hill at mile six I broke away and was alone the rest of the time,” he said.

Gildea was hoping to run an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier (1:05), but instead ran 1:07:35, which wasn’t a PR for him.

“It was a really tough course with big hills at the beginning,” he said. “I thought after the descent that it would be completely flat but there were small hills so I really had to keep working.”

The course has a 6 percent gain in the second mile through San Diego’s Balboa Park, then a sharp downhill at just about halfway through the race.

“The combination of the course and the competition didn’t make it the fastest race,” Gildea said.

Nwadike said this year was a trial run for the race, and he will reach out to more elites next year.

The course did draw one superstar: Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi stood on the sidelines at around the 10K mark, which was near his home in San Diego, took photos with runners, and gave high fives.

His brother, Merhawi Keflezighi, helped organize the race, which had the Meb Foundation as its official charity.

“Totally the highlight of the race,” wrote runner Tim Christoni on Facebook about his Meb greeting. “No cameras. No entourage. Nothing but love and encouragement. A true class act.”

Nwadike said registration for next year’s race will open on the same day as the Boston Marathon, and that he’ll likely offer pre-registration for Boston runners to secure their spots before general registration opens.

Claire TrageserClaire Trageser is a journalist in San Diego, where she works for the NPR affiliate KPBS.

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